The present invention relates to a hearing aid of the type as disclosed in applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,490, and includes a miniaturized ear plug for use therewith that has a shape and configuration that is tailored to the shape and configuration of the user's auditory canal so that the ear plug can be inserted therein for a comfortable fit, the concha portion of the user's ear thereby being unobstructed to act as a focal point for collecting sound waves and directing them into a microphone of the hearing aid as located in the ear plug thereof.
The component parts of applicant's invention correspond generally to the parts as shown in applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,490, wherein a battery is located in a battery compartment as mounted in a cavity formed in an outer portion of the ear plug. A microphone that is exposed for receiving sound transmits the sound waves to an amplifier as located in the ear plug, which in turn amplifies the sound waves for transmission to a transducer-receiver located in the inner portion of the ear plug. The transducer-receiver communicates with a sound tube that in turn has access to the auditory canal of the user's ear, whereupon the amplified sound is transmitted by the sound tube into the auditory canal of the user's ear in the well-known manner. As illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,490, the components of the ear plug are all electrically interconnected to provide for the transmission of the sound waves and amplified sound to the auditory canal of the user.
Although the hearing aid as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,490 has provided an improved device over the prior known constructions, considerable care is required in assembling the component parts within the body portion or plug of the hearing aid. Further, because the configuration of the body portion of the prior known plug type of hearing aid is generally fashioned as to the shape and configuration from the shape and configuration of the user's ear, it was sometimes difficult to properly assemble the component parts therein. Because of the considerable handling required in the assembly of the components, the controls and wiring for the hearing aid could become mechanically inoperative, and quality of sound could be effected unless great care and attention were given to the assembly of the component parts.
The present invention provides a hearing aid ear plug and method of assembly of the component parts therein that avoids the problems experienced heretofore, and as will be described hereinafter, the improvement herein further relates to the manner in which the hearing aid component parts are assembled and preshaped for insertion into a mold that is cast from the user's auditory canal, thereby providing for a tailored fit of the finished ear plug into the user's auditory canal and further providing for better fidelity of sound as transmitted to the auditory canal of the user.